Letters to Holly

Friday, August 7

Yo Joe

I completely forgot to thank you for the Africa candy because I have no brains. Mrs. H.S. Ball's Chutney chips are hysterical. I want to eat them, but I don't want to rupture the sanctity of the Simba bag.

In our few days of doing little, we saw the GI Joe movie. Of course we did. It's much like the cartoon in that it involves many small scenes lined up toward a giant climatic battle. It also doesn't require a brain to watch it. It's simple and humble in the dialogue, and it relies on the '80s cartoon and comics for the character relationships. If I were a ten-year-old, I'd be all over this. If not for the copious expletives, this would be a fine boys' movie. If you, like me, watched the film way back then, you might enjoy this too. As a lifelong fan, I'm in no way bothered by the alterations and updates. I did notice how much tech porn is on display. The film loves to show off mechanical design. One segment smells like a ripoff of Iron Man, and it has no comic/cartoon/toy precedent.

We watched Raiders of the Lost Ark last night. It mostly holds up. It's surprisingly lean, not dawdling at all, and a modern version of this film would include at least ten minutes more of needless dialogue. The opening credits, for example, speed by like they have to catch a bus. Not complaining. Just unprepared for that by modern filmmaking. Your Sister had maybe seen this film once before, and that would not stand. She liked the film as all humans do.

Picture of the Day
Draws for your hands!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

glad to have you back and blogging!
hooray for layovers in cities like salt lake, where the wifi is free!
let me know about surfing...i might try and join you.